He Loves Me Not
by Lady Win
Summary: When two long time friends come together during one's time of need, they realize that their friendship may be something more.


~He Loves Me Not~  
Author: Lady Windsor (Lady Win)  
Rating: PG   
E-mail: Ladywin31@aol.com  
Type: Alternative Reality/Romance  
Teaser: When two long time friends come   
together during one's time of need, they realize  
that their friendship may be something more.   
(Standard Disclaimer Applies)  
  
Author's Notes: Hello to all! This is my first one  
part fan fiction. I always thought that you could  
never fit a whole story into a one-parter but after  
writing this I realize it is easier than I thought. I  
would like to thank Marie J.W., Izzy, Ruchie, and  
TonTon for their support and patience with me  
when I decided to vent out frustrations, which is a  
lot. So thanks a million you guys, this wouldn't have  
been written with out you. Luv yah! Also, Dream  
has a song 'He Loves U Not' this fic has nothing to  
do with the song at all, NONE!! And, in the  
beginning of this fic it sounds like it is going to be a  
Rena/Dar break up fic, which tend to occur during  
Season R, but its not so be sure to read on  
Um...that's it. E-mail is VERY good!   
  
*~*~*~*  
  
He wanted to take a break. He didn't want to  
see her any more. He wanted to remain 'friends'. He  
didn't love her anymore. Damn him!!! Damn Seiya  
Coltman to HELL and back!  
She wanted to scream and shout and hit  
something really, REALLY hard! She wanted to cry  
and never stop. Would the pain ever do away? She  
knew it would but that realization didn't help her  
much. Serena Hribar wanted to just stop the pain.  
She needed him. So she called him.  
  
*~*~*  
  
He checked his machine as soon as he got  
home from the airport. He was exhausted beyond  
belief but there was a message and it was probably  
Rena. He prayed that she wasn't calling to tell him  
that Seiya 'popped the question'. But when she told  
him that their two-year anniversary was coming up  
on Saturday and that Seiya was talking her to the  
restaurant that they had gone to for their first date,  
she was expecting a proposal and was already  
prepared with the answer.  
  
He told her that was happy for her, which he  
was. Kind of. Darien English was a man with many  
regrets in life. He could have saved his parents but  
he had not. He could have gotten married, three  
times, but he had not. And now the day that he  
introduced Serena to Seiya was added to the long  
and growing list. But he worked past that, she loved  
Seiya and Seiya loved her. At least he said he did  
but Darien had his doubts. But, Darien had other  
motives to doubt Seiya. He knew Seiya the  
businessman and Seiya the playboy almost as long  
as Serena had been living. Next to Andrew, Seiya  
was Darien's best friend, someone he could trust  
with his life. But could he trust him with Serena's  
life too?   
  
Again, he put that thought into his mental  
'Things to Contemplate Later' file and listened as  
Serena's voice as her message played. She sounds  
like she is about to cry, is it from happiness or hurt  
he thought.  
  
"Darien? Are you there? If you are please  
pick up? I need to talk to you. It..It's about Seiya.  
He.. He broke up with me. I really need to talk to  
you. Darien, please answer..."  
  
He never heard the last part of the message.  
He was to busy leaving for Serena's.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Rena," he asked as he closed her front door.  
"Where are you?"   
  
"In here," he heard in a chocked whisper,  
coming from her bedroom.  
  
He walked in on her sitting in the middle of  
her bed, with photographs of her and Seiya spread  
all around as she silently wept. A mix of sax and  
piano was wafting from the small radio in a lonely  
melody. He went over to her, on his way turning  
down the radio and getting the box of tissues from  
her dresser.   
  
"I always heard the blues were supposed to  
make you feel better, so I tried it," Rena mumbled  
as she took a tissue to blow her nose. "It doesn't  
work to good for me."  
  
"What happened," Darien gently asked as he  
took a tissue to her eyes. In a vain attempt to dry  
them, considering that the tears just kept coming.  
Since it was obvious she was struggling, Darien sat  
in front of her on the bed and took her into his arms.  
She always felt better within the warm circle of his  
arms, she felt protected and safe. As she laid her  
weary head on his strong shoulder, she wondered,  
not for the first time and probably not the last, why  
her head always felt right and perfect on his  
shoulder. As if, they were made for each other?  
With little prompting from him, she began the sad,  
miserable story.  
  
"Well it started out fine. He took me to the  
restaurant and we had a very nice dinner. We talked  
about nothing and everything; I don't think I had  
ever laughed so hard with him. We decided to go  
for a walk; he wanted to walk me home. I thought it  
was romantic but now I guess that it was stupid,  
considering...well anyway. We got to my building  
and he still hadn't asked me so I guessed I was  
wrong. But when we got outside the door he took  
both my hands. And I thought here it comes. But he  
broke up with me instead," she finished in nothing  
more than a whisper as the tears started again.  
  
Rage and betray ran at a parallel through  
Darien as he tightened his hold on Rena's small  
frame when she began to weep again.  
  
*~*~*  
  
He didn't believe that Seiya broke up with  
her. As he watched her sleep in the middle of her  
large wood bed, with pictures of them still spread  
around her, while he paced back and forth. He still  
didn't believe it.  
  
But in the same breath he was not the least  
bit pulsed by it. Seiya had only one care in the  
world, himself. And if he had to break young  
women's hearts to remain happy, well then he did it.  
It hadn't really mattered to Darien. Seiya was a  
friend but he didn't butt into Darien's life, love or  
otherwise. So Darien didn't butt into his.  
  
Until Serena.  
  
Seiya had first met Rena at one of his boss'  
many parties. Darien and Seiya worked for the same  
company, under the same boss, only at different  
positions. Rena had been so taken with his good  
looks and free charm that she hadn't seen the snake  
underneath. Until tonight. In a way Darien was  
overjoyed that Seiya called it quits because that  
meant Rena was available. Maybe this time she  
would take him seriously.  
  
He had asked her out to dinner before only  
to be told that she was already going on a date that  
night or that she would love to. That what friends  
did, right? She still thought of him as her best  
friend. The boy who sat by her on the bus everyday.  
The boy who taught her how to punch a guy and let  
her practice on him, even after the two bloody noses  
and swollen lip. The boy who she went to the prom  
with because her date backed out in the last second.  
The man who still remained her best friend after  
almost twenty years. And nothing, not even one real  
date with him would change that. Why couldn't she  
see that?  
  
He knew that answer too well. He was to  
scared to tell her what he felt, or how much of it. He  
was a chicken. And as that moon reached its full  
height and glory, and made it's way through her  
window to dance on her skin. He stopped to gaze at  
her beauty and wonder if he would ever change.  
  
*~*~*  
  
She awoke groggy and cranky. The tear  
stains that streaked her face told of the emotions,  
depression and loneliness that had caused her to  
call Darien, which had dried up long ago, like her  
tears. But the pain remained as a constant reminder  
of what the man she believed she loved more than  
life itself had done to her. She knew it, like the  
depression and loneliness, would soon pass but that  
made it no less tolerable.  
  
She sat up and moved to get off the bed  
before she remembered the pictures. She picked one  
up; it was of the two of them on July 4th of last  
year. He had his arm slung around her shoulders  
and she was hugging his waist with both of hers. He  
looked so happy, then why did he break up with her.  
  
As a million emotions and thoughts whizzed  
through her head at a thousand miles an hours, she  
began to cry.  
  
She had already been through this. He didn't  
love her because she wasn't his "one". She wasn't  
right. She had analyzed and analyzed. And she  
came up with the same answer every time. Seiya  
didn't love her just because. Because she didn't  
have that something that he wanted in a wife, a  
partner. She just didn't have it and no matter what  
she did she never would. Then why did she love  
him? She had realized that she never loved him  
either; she had talked herself into loving him. But  
that didn't lessen the pain or the shock that his  
action left on her mind and her heart.  
  
She furiously threw the picture across the  
room and all the others followed. Until her room  
looked like it had been visited by a hurricane,  
Hurricane Rena, and in her wake she left pictures  
strewn about. While she surveyed the damage, she  
began to cry again. She hated herself for being weak  
but knew she needed this.  
  
She was pressing her fingers to her eyes in a  
vain try to stop the tears when Darien walked in. He  
took one look at the room and summed up what  
happened while he approached her. She felt his  
arms snake around her waist and remained stiff for  
a moment. But as he pulled her back closer to the  
strength of his chest she melted into his warmth.  
And survived the storm of emotions and tears in  
Darien's embrace.   
  
*~*~*  
  
They were walking through the same park  
she and Seiya had the night before. As the wind  
whipped at her hair, she lifted her face to it. She  
was over him; well she was almost over him. She  
was so grateful for Darien. Without him she would  
have spent the whole weekend wallowing in her  
depression. But with him, she managed to smile and  
laugh about it. He had cooked her breakfast. He  
made her get up and do something. He let her  
wallow but not too much and she was grateful. With  
Darien she could do anything and be anyone. With  
Darien she was safe and loved. Nobody made her  
feel like Darien. She needed him like she needed air  
or food to live. He was her rock, her haven, her  
friend.   
  
Then why did none of her other friends  
make her feel like Darien? Even with her best  
friends, she never felt as loved or safe or cherished  
as she did with Darien. What she felt for him was so  
much more that what she felt for anyone else. Not  
one of her past boyfriends had made her feel like  
this. She knew that even if Seiya had asked her to  
marry him she could not have gone through with it.  
He was not Darien. She loved Darien.  
  
She loved Darien. No she didn't, her mind  
screamed in denial. Darien was her friend, her  
BEST friend. Not the man she wanted to spend the  
rest of her life with. But he was. She could never  
imagine a future with any of her old loves. Yet,  
when she thought of the future she could have with  
Darien, it stretched on for years and years. She  
thought of children, she had never imagined having  
children, but when Darien was the father she  
imagined having millions. She loved him.  
  
She, Serena Hribar, loved Darien English  
.   
She wanted to scream it from the rooftops.  
She wanted the entire world to know that she was in  
love. She wanted to dance and scream and cry, all at  
the same time. Without ever stopping. But first she  
would have to tell Darien.  
  
As they approached her building, she tried  
desperately to work up the courage to tell him. The  
courage to even look at him but that was not  
needed. He put his fingers under her chin and  
pushed up her downcast head towards him. And, for  
the first time in a long time, she looked into his  
eyes. In them she saw everything she had ever  
wanted in life. A family, a future, and a man to  
grow old with. A man to love for all eternity. But  
what if he did not feel the same way as she did?  
What if he didn't even want to be her friend? That  
realization caused the words of love to die in her  
throat. What if he didn't love her?  
  
For one moment in her eyes he had seen  
hope and longing, which was a big step from the  
depression and sadness that he had seen earlier.  
Then why was she so sad all of a sudden?   
  
"Rena, what's the matter? You can tell me,"  
he asked as he thought of something, anything he  
could do to stop the tears that lingered on the  
surface of her eyes.  
  
"No.. nothing, Darien," she stated in a  
broken whisper but with a deep breath she gained  
more confidence. "Nothing at all. Thank you for  
everything but right now I just want to be left  
alone."  
  
He nodded his head and slipped his arms  
around her for a quick hug before he went. He  
expected her to lightly hug him back, pull away  
with one of her fake smiles, and waltz into her  
building. But she didn't, she clung to him. She  
gripped so hard he almost overbalanced and fell  
over. And when she laid her head on his shoulder,  
all he could think was. Love me Serena, just love  
me and I will protect you. I will love you forever;  
just love me back. Yet, with a grimace, he realized  
that she never would. He started to pull away when,  
with all the courage she could muster. She laid her  
arms around his neck, pulled his head down and  
kissed him.   
  
For a second, she thought she had made a  
mistake in kissing him. That he would push her  
away, in shock or disgust, it didn't matter which for  
her result would be the same. He didn't push away;  
he pulled her closer. He didn't mean to crush her  
small frame against him but he did. He didn't mean  
to deepen the kiss but when she parted her lips with  
a small sigh, he couldn't resist. For a moment he  
even forgot that they were in the middle of a very  
crowed, very public street.  
  
All that mattered was that she never stopped  
kissing him.   
  
This had to stop she told herself. Its wrong  
her mind screamed. No it's not, was her heart's only  
reply. After what seemed like a century to her he  
pulled away to stare into her eyes. She stepped  
back, what she saw in his eyes was frightening.  
Desire, Longing, and...LOVE! He loved her; she  
could not have been more ecstatic.  
  
"I love you, Darien." That was all she said to  
him before she turned toward her building.  
  
His hand grasped her wrist and pulled her  
back into the warmth of his embrace. And as his  
arms snuck around her slender waist he whispered,  
  
"I love you, Serena. I always have and I  
always will." And as her kissed her; she knew this  
man was the one. The one she was meant to love,  
cherish, and protect. The man she was meant to  
have children with and grow old with.  
  
She had always thought love was  
complicated. But now she realized it was the most  
basic thing in the world. Love was the basis for  
everything and no one could live without it.  
  
When Darien removed his lips from hers  
and she took his hand to lead him into her building,  
she knew her life would never be the same again.  
And she was never more grateful for anything in her  
entire life.   
  
Serena Hribar loved Darien English. Darien  
English loved Serena Hribar. And the rest, as they  
say, was history.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
That's it. My first attempt at short stories is done.  
What did you think? All comments go to  
Ladywin31@aol.com. And visit my website at   
www.lunarromance31.homestead.com   
  
Bye,   
L. Win   
"He Loves Me Not" Copyright 2001- Lady Windsor  



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